WCAG 2.0 · Level A · Perceivable
1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics
Manual verification
How to validate 1.3.3 by hand
Review instructions that identify controls or actions by shape, position, color, sound, or another sensory characteristic.
Start with the extension result
Reopen the reported URL and reproduce the same state (for example, after expanding a menu or submitting a form). Use the result’s Highlight action when available, or its affected-element details and CSS selector, to find the reported content. Apply the checks below to that content and its context. If the element or state has changed, rescan and record that difference before deciding whether the finding still applies.
- Find directions such as “use the green button,” “select the item on the right,” or “listen for a tone.”
- Check whether the instruction also names the control or explains the action in text that does not depend on that sensation.
- Try the task without the referenced color, shape, position, or sound cue and determine whether the instruction still identifies what to do.
Evidence to record
Quote the instruction and identify the non-sensory information a person would need to complete the task.
Scope and exceptions
This criterion does not prohibit sensory cues when another means of identification is also supplied. Do not treat every reference to position or color as a failure without checking the complete instruction.
Record the review outcome
- Confirmed: the recorded evidence shows the requirement is not met in the tested page state, and no applicable exception explains it.
- Not reproduced: the reported issue is absent in the current state. Record the URL, state, and affected element you checked; this does not prove other pages or states conform.
- Needs more review: evidence is incomplete, the content requires human judgment, or an exception is uncertain. Record what remains to be checked instead of treating it as a pass.